Fading from sight after giving one answer that brings up like a bajillion questions. Unecessary? Yes. Dramatic? Very much so. Fracking awesome exit? Hellz yes. Somewhat ruined however when Sally noticed I was gone, started crying for her 'Dan-dan' and was summarily picked up invisibly and flewn through the sky like an airplane so she would stop crying? Yeah, kinda. BUT STILL! For those first ten seconds I had the shock and awe thing goin' on. Now...I'm playing patty cake with Sally. And then She asks-
"Do I have a family?" I stopped for a second...did she? I think I'm her family...but what about my family? What about...hmmm. "Danny? Why did you stop?"
"I think...well, I like to think of you as my daughter. What do you think of me as?"
"Well, I know you're not my real dad, but I think of you like that. Do I have other family?"
"Yes...you do. You have an Aunt Jasmine, but I just call her Jazz. I have a clone I call my cousin, but you could probably just call her Aunt Danielle, but she likes being called Dani, with an 'i'. My parents...your grandparents...they don't know about me...they think I ran away."
"Why?"
"Because...I ran away."
"Why?"
"Because...someone I loved very much was going to do something very bad to me...so I had to leave."
"It wasn't auntie Jazzy or auntie Dani was it?"
"No, it was my best friend...and my girlfriend."
"Oh...are there other nice people?"
"Yes, there are. There's the Dragon Queen Dorathea, and Pandora, a thirty foot tall greek ghost with four arms who guards a box full of all the bad things that used to be in the world."
"But aren't there bad things now?"
"Yes, but those are new bad things, these are old bad things, bad things that we don't have today because she guards her box."
"Oh...ok."
"Then there's Frostbite and the Far Frozen, they're a bunch of yetis with ice powers, and then there's Kitty-"
"Kitty's a ghost?"
"No, this is a different Kitty, she's really nice to me and has a tough looking boyfriend who's kind of a jerk, but really nice to her."
"But that sounds just like our Kitty." she said confused. Now that I think about it...was it the name? Was it a huge coincedence? Either way it's kind of funny.
"You know, you're absolutely right." she beams at me. Maybe we should introduce them some day? "But thay are different. Anyways, there's also a big black furred werewolf named Wulf who can use his claws to open ghost portals, they're more like tears, but still. Last, but not least, is Clockwork. The ghost Master of Time. He knows everything."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
"Even the stuff I don't tell anybody about?"
"Even the stuff you don't tell anybody about. He knows about it even before you think about doing it." her eyes went wide "He knows everything."
"So he knows what I'm gunna get for my hatch-day?"
"Uh-huh."
"Woooow."
"Yeah, but he never tells anybody. It's his job to fix really big problems and never tell anybody anything that could affect the timestream." she frowned
"So he can tell us stuff that's not important but not stuff that is?"
"Yeah, it's really annoying, but he does give us clues to help us out and stuff. He never lets anything too bad happen, and if he does, it's because something really good is going to happen afterwards."
"Why not just have all the good stuff happen and none of the bad?"
"Without the bad stuff, sometimes there would be no good stuff."
"I'm confused."
"Don't worry, you'll get it eventually, and if you don't, well it probably wasn't that important anyway."
"Daniel! That's no way to raise a child!"...okay...I'm in my room...with no doors...so survey says...window. I turn my head and Ororo is flying into my room through, my window. "You must work hard for understanding in all things, and especially in understanding others."
"Yeah, she's actually right about that."
"Actually right? How often am I wrong?"
"Not too often." she smiles brightly at Sals
"Hello Sally." after a small hug Sally starts making a pillow fort. Why do we have that many pillows in our room? To make pillow forts with. Why else? "Not too often indeed Daniel. The others are worried for you." her eyes catch on my scars and her eyes try to hide empathy. She knows I don't want pity, but she just cares so much, it's just who she is. "Are you all right?" I sigh
"Yeah, I'm fine, just...memories I guess. I already had one big reveal at school, I kinda didn't want to even worry about it at home, y'know?"
"I know child, I know." she appraised me for a minute "You are truly fine?"
"Not really, but for me not really being fine is fine on days when you just remember everything."
"I understand." She gets this look in her eyes and I think she does understand. She's got a past too. She was just smart enough not to get so many scars as me. "Tabitha wanted me to remind you that 'the trip is both ways, so you have to come back down eventually.' Then she said something I would rather not repeat."
"Yeah, I can imagine."
"I'd rather you didn't." Just like that I was laughing again.
"Thanks Ororo." she smiles
"My pleasure Daniel." she gestures to my wall "Do you think you could...?"
"Oh yeah, no problem."
"But O-ro!" Sally protested "You haven't even looked inside my fort!" Ororo smiled at Sally. It was kinda hard not to. Ororo bent at the waist, knees together and slightly bent with her hands on her knees for support.
"But I don't have the password. How can you let me in if I don't know it?"
"I could tell it to you!"
"You could? My, thank you dear." Sally was bouncing up and down, making the whole fort jiggle. "But how about this, tonight, you can have a sleep over in my room and we can make our own fort. How does that sound?" Sally's eyes lit up and she burst from the fort, pillows flying everywhere.
"Really O-ro? Really?" a pillow fell back down and bopped her on the head, she had the cutest little confused face on. It took all of my manly pride not to right there break down and go 'Awwwwwww'. It was close but I managed. Ororo laughed and replied
"Yes child, really." She got a hug for that.
"Pinky promise?" Ororo holds out her pinky
"Pinky promise." they shake pinkies and Sally laughs and flies out the window.
"Be careful!" I call out behind her "Che, kids."
"You're too young to talk like that. You yourself are but a child."
"Yeah, but I'm a merry old soul." Sarcasm, to the rescue!
"Now can you let me out of your room?"
"Yeah, sure, where to?"
"The library please." I put my hand on her shoulder and in a whips of green we were there
"Do you go to the library a lot?"
"Not usually, but I'm picking up a few books for Jean. She is entering into a psychology program with the top five juvenile psychologists. Fresh from their second year of advanced courses. They form the next five leaders of 'The Young Psychologists' Organization'."
"TYPO? Really?"
"Despite the...odd name, they are a promising organization. Jean is going to be joining them as one of the five, the other four shall be coming here, to Bayville, and will be staying for...about a month."
"Psychologists huh?"
"Yes, is something the matter?"
"No, it's just that my sister had a thing for psychology, it was annoying for a while. She could just look at my face and immediately figure out what it was I was thinking or hiding. When I asked her how she always knew she said it was 'Simple deduction based on the facts. That and how much I know you little brother.'"
"You miss her."
"Of course, she was only ever looking out for me. She loved me, no matter what."
"That's what family does Daniel."
"Not always, I was lucky to have her. I could have been a lot less lucky." sigh "I miss her, I wonder what she's doing about now."
"Jaaazz, honey, it's time to get ready to go! You don't want to miss your flight do you?"
"No, mom! I'll be down in a few minutes!"
"Don't take too long, you'll miss your grammar meetings!"
"For the last time mom, it's TYPO! 'The Young Psychologists' Organization'!"
"Just make sure you have your tickets and call us the minute you land in Bayville!"
"Okay mom!" Jazz went downstairs with her suit-cases, one for clothes, one for her books and one for her ghost hunting equipment. "Is the cab here?"
"It's right outside Jazz." Maddie held Jazz's shoulders for a moment, looking at her "We're so proud of you Jazz. We know Danny would be too."
"Are you kidding mom? He'd scoff and tell me I need to visit a shrink to see what's wrong with me. Then he'd freeze up and run out of the room with some lame excuse." both girls laugh at how true that was "But he's be here when it counted. He always was."
"Yes, he was wasn't he?" Maddie and Jazz sighed a moment but were jolted by the honking of a car horn outside. "You better go dear."
"Okay." They hugged "I love you mom."
"I love you too dear."
"DAD! I'M LEAVING!" she called to the basement
"REMEMBER TO BRING BACK SOME FUDGE! AND CALL US IF THERE'S A GHOST!" They rolled their eyes. The two Fenton women loaded the three suitcases into the cab and stood outside of the doors embracing one last time.
"Bye mom."
"Bye Jazz, call us when you land."
"Okay." Jazz got in the cab, hanging out the back window as she the cabbie drove out of sight."BYYYYYE MOOOOOM!"
"BYYYYYE JASMINE!" Maddie sighed as the cab turned a corner "I'll miss you. Just please come back to us." Lingering on that statement for a moment she sighed and went back inside the building, wishing for both of her children back, as soon as possible. "Please come back."